# Steal Like An Artist ## Austin Kleon I used to write down things that I found interesting when reading. Somewhere along the line I stopped doing that and that makes me sad. So now I'm starting the habit again. I'm diving back into my favorite books and taking notes on them. This is a summary breakdown of Austin Kleon's influential book _[Steal Like An Artist](https://austinkleon.com/steal/)_. I found it at a time in my life when I needed to be reminded that I liked being creative and that it was OK to make things for myself. I fully encourage you to get this book and keep it easily accessible so you can jump into it whenever you need a quick inspirational boost or new way of looking at things. This dry snack of a summary is necessarily incomplete and is no way a replacement for the juicy flavorful meal that is the actual book. You should go buy it and another copy to share with a friend. Austin continually posts interesting and meaningful things on his [website](https://austinkleon.com/). His ideas on creativity and the creative process resonate with me as both an artist and as an art teacher trying to help other people become artists themselves. His [weekly newsletter](https://austinkleon.com/newsletter/) should be required for anyone who likes to make things. > Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal; bad poets deface what they take, and good poets make it into something better, or at least something different. The good poet welds his theft into a whole of feeling which is unique, utterly different from that which it was torn. > — T.S. Eliot ## 1. steal like an artist. ### how to look at the world (like an artist) Artists look at the world for things worth stealing and making their own and everything is worth taking. ### nothing is original Creative work builds on influences and inspirations that came before. Nothing arises completely new so don't worry about it. Embrace your influences. [^1] [^1]: I would add that you should also acknowledge those you are taking ideas from ### garbage in, garbage out You are only as good as the stuff you surround yourself with so be sure to collect the good ideas and be aware of what influences you. ### climb your own family tree When it comes to inspirations, choose one person you really love and learn everything you can about them. Then learn everything you can about who they were inspired by. Understand that you are part of a creative family tree. It is humbling and inspirational. I love his metaphor of exploring your creative family tree. "Climb up the tree as far as you can go. Once you build your tree, it's time to start your own branch." ### school yourself You are responsible for your own learning, whether it is in a formal school or not. Be curious. Explore. Ask questions. Read. Collect. Make it your life mission to keep learning. ### save your thefts for later Carry a sketchbook. Use it often. Write things down. [[get it on the page|Get things out of your head.]] Save things for later. Swipe the stuff you find interesting and save it for later use. --- ## 2. don't wait until you know who you are to get started. ### make things, know thyself Don't wait on starting until you know who you are. Start making things now and you will learn who you are as you go along. Impostor Syndrome is when you feel like a phony, when you have no idea what you are doing. That's OK. Nobody really knows what they are doing, so don't let it bother you. This is one of the best lines in the book: **"Ask anybody doing truly creative work, and they'll tell you the truth: They don't know where the good stuff comes from. They just show up and do their thing. Every day."** ### fake it 'til you make it Two ways to look at the phrase: pretend to be something until you are successfully recognized or pretend to make something until you actually make something. Both are valid approaches. Creative work just takes time for things to happen. So [[give yourself permission to play]]. ### start copying You don't start out knowing what to do. You learn by copying others, by pretending to be what you aren't yet. Don't plagiarize, though, don't pass off the work of other's as your own. Instead, look at what others have done and find your own way to make it. Copy your heroes. Copy the good stuff. Copy what inspires you. Don't copy the content or the style, look deeper. Copy the ideas behind the work. Understand and internalize the way of looking. [^2] [^2]: this idea is so powerful. make it your own by trying to understand and emulate in your own way. you will create a hybrid of the borrowed ideas mixed with your own ideas to find your own voice. Copy from one is plagiarism. Copy from many is research. > If you have one person you are influenced by, everyone will say you're the next whoever. But if you rip off a hundred people, everyone will say you're so original. > — Gary Panter > We want you to take from us. We want you, at first, to steal from us, because you can't steal. You will take what we give you and you will put it in your own voice and that's how you will find your voice. And that's how you begin. And then one day someone will steal from you. > — Francis Ford Coppolla ### imitation is not flattery Move from imitating to emulating to find your own voice. Adapt to fit your needs and style. So copy and see where you do something different. Use that discovery to transform the ideas into your own thing. Add something to the world that only you can add. | GOOD THEFT | BAD THEFT | | ---- | ---- | | honor | degrade | | study | skim | | steal from many | steal from one | | credit | plagiarize | | transfrom | imitate | | remix | rip off | --- ## 3. write the book you want to read. ### write what you ~~know~~ like The advice to "write what you know" sucks. Better to "write what you like". Make what you want to see in the world. Take what you like and remix and create the next version your way. It is that simple. --- ## 4. use your hands. ### step away from the screen [^3] [^3]: this chapter has lots of great stories that my quick synopsis doesn't capture. go get traditional art supplies and go play. get up and go do something with your hands. Computers are good for some things, but they create a barrier, an abstraction that is limiting. We have bodies and we need to use those bodies to create instead of sitting passively at a screen. We need to move to create; the motions give us ideas. The computer is good for editing and refinining, but not the initial creative play. It is too easy to delete and edit which gets in the way of exploring possibilities. --- ## 5. side projects and hobbies are important. ### practice productive procrastination > The work you do while you procrastinate is probably the work you should be doing for the rest of your life. > — Jessica Hische The stuff you do while playing around is the good stuff. That's where the magic begins. Always have multiple things going on so you can bounce around when you get bored. And let yourself get bored. Take the time to do nothing because that's when you will find the ideas. [^4] [^4]: tie this back to zen ideas of finding meaning in the mundane. also ideas of active meditation for discovery. build these links. ### don't throw any of yourself away Keep all your passions and interests, don't feel like you have to choose between them. When you ignore things you care about, they come back to haunt you. If you care about things, find a way to incorporate them. There's magic in finding the connections between things you care about. [^5] [^5]: connect ideas about cross-pollination. **idea sex** Have a hobby for yourself with no need to monetize it. Do it just because you want to. There's no need for it to be anything more than that. --- ## 6. the secret: do good work and share it with people. ### in the beginning, obscurity is good There's no pressure when nobody knows you, so there's freedom to do what you want. Have fun playing and experimenting and figuring things out without external pressure. All that freedom will disappear once you get noticed, and especially once you start getting paid for your work. ### the not-so-secret formula. The simple truth for getting noticed is: **do good work and share it with people**. The first step is really hard and there aren't any secret tricks or shortcuts. You need to do the work to get good at what you do. The second part use much easier: put your stuff on the internet. Be fascinated by the things that other people aren't paying attention to and share that passion. Let people know about your process and share your secrets. Spend time [[learning in public]]. If you don't know what to say, then [[write to understand]]. Being public about this keeps you honest and keeps you moving forward. Spend time learning how to do this internet thing. Build a website. Do the social media thing. Put out snippets, doodles, ideas. Share something that you think is valuable. Share the dots without connecting them. --- ## 7. geography is no longer our master. ### build your own world You aren't tied to physical location anymore. The internet let's you find your own world. You can build your own community. You can also build your own environment. Decorate your surroundings however you want. All you really need is some time and a place to work. It doesn't need to be at home or work, you can find your own place out and about. [^6] [^6]: On nice days, I like going to cemeteries to work. They are quiet and peaceful and people tend to keep their distance. - [ ] *Connect in John Cleese video about time and space for creativity* ### leave home You can get too comfortable staying home. Things become too familiar. You need to disrupt the routine sometimes. Make yourself uncomfortable and challenge those preconceptions. It shocks your brain and helps you see things with fresh eyes. Find interesting people to hang out with, especially people who aren't into the same things as you. [[find your tribe]]. Good food if important too. "You have to find a place that feeds you — creatively, socially, spiritually, and literally." It doesn't matter where you go, your friends are on the internet anyway. --- ## 8. be nice. (the world is a small town.) ### make friends, ignore enemies Pretty simple: be kind to people, especially since everyone is on the internet and everyone talks to each other. ### stand next to the talent Surround yourself with the best people. Follow the people's that are better and smarter then you and learn from them. ### quit picking fights and go make something There's a lot of bad and stupid stuff that will make you upset. Channel that anger by making something instead of picking useless fights. Beat them by making something better. ### write fan letters Communicate with your heroes, but don't expect a response. Make something inspired by them and share it. Show your appreciation by building on their work to make something new. Don't worry if they see it or not. That isn't the point. [^7] [^7]: does this summary of Austin Kleon's book count, do you think? ### validation is for parking You can't seek external validation for what you are doing. People won't always understand what you are doing. "get comfortable with being misunderstood, disparaged, or ignored — the trick is to be too busy doing your work to care". > Modern art = I could do that + Yeah, but you didn't. > — Craig Damrauer ### keep a praise file Negativity and discouragement are to be expected. Sometimes life is depressing and people are mean. Keep a collection of positive things others have said about you so you can get a nice positive boost on those dark days. _(this is my [[i am awesome collection]])_ --- ## 9. be boring. (it's the only way to get work done.) ### take care of yourself Be boring. It takes a lot of energy to be creative so don't waste it on other stuff. Make the right choices. Eat well. Get some exercise. The whole creative genius living a crazy drugged-out life filled with parties and chaos is played out. It takes away from the serious work of actually making things. ### stay out of debt Learn about money and follow the rules that already know work. Don't live beyond your means. Don't waste money on frivolous things. Don't buy shit you don't need. ### keep your day job --- ## 10. creativity is subtraction.